Tyler Smith
FOUNTAIN CITY, Ind. – Friday night’s Union County at Northeastern contest came down to the pace of the game as the Class 2A Knights beat the Patriots 72-46 in a Tri-Eastern Conference affair.
“I think the first half got a little hectic there,” Northeastern Head Coach Brent Ross said. “I really thought we got a great start to the basketball game.”
Northeastern led 25-11 after one period as the Knights (16-3, 4-0) searched for their 19th straight conference win.
“I thought we had all the momentum and everything was going our way,” Ross said. “Then we had an incident there and got a technical (on Tyler Smith) and I thought it kind of gave them a little bit of momentum.”
Union County closed the gap to 41-31, but it was only a matter of time for the Knights.
“I thought going in, still with a double-figure lead with 10, I was really kind of pleased with that,” Ross said of his team’s halftime margin.
Ross was probably even happier after the third period as the Knights built a 60-35 advantage heading into the final stanza over the Patriots (12-8, 3-3).
“We play at a speed that, unless you practice it every day and play that way all year long, it’s hard to stay with,” Ross said.
Tyler Smith scored 11 of his game-high 24 points in the third quarter.
“We always try to come out in the third and fourth quarter and really try to put our foot on the pedal,” Tyler Smith said. “I feel like we did that. I feel like we came out, we pressured hard, we got stops and we scored.”
Dillon Miller
Union County Head Coach Mark Detweiler felt the same way.
“What they do is they speed you up,” Detweiler said. “We got to rushing things, whether it was rushing a pass or rushing a shot. They got us playing at a pace that we were uncomfortable with.”
“I thought the difference in the third quarter was rebounding,” Detweiler added. “We just became spectators and we just watched a lot in that third quarter. If you’re going to watch, they’re going to pound you.”
The Knights had a 19-4 edge in the third frame to take control of the contest as they remained unbeaten in the TEC.
Robert Smith tossed in 16 points for the Knights as he pulled down 13 rebounds to lead both teams in that category.
Bailey Stewart also finished with 16 points for the Knights as Nate Reynolds added 10.
Dillon Miller scored 16 points to lead Union County with Breyden Wicker contributing 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Union County won the JV game 45-33.
Trevor Reiboldt and Denton Shepler led the Patriots with nine points each. Jalen Hillard paced Northeastern with eight points.
The Knights are back in action on Saturday in TEC play as the visit Tri. Union County is on the road on Tuesday at East Central.
Box Score
UNION COUNTY (12-8, 3-3) – Preston Scott 0 0-2 0, Breyden Wicker 4 2-3 10, Cameron Donovan 2 0-2 5, Logan Sanford 2 2-3 7, Dillon Miller 6 2-2 16, Nevada Lakes 0 0-0 0, Mason Miller 1 3-4 6, Jamison Walters 1 0-0 2, Haidyn Lathery 0 0-0 0, Isaiah Spencer 0 0-0 0, Ryan Hensley 0 0-0 0, Denton Shepler 0 0-0 0, Blake Fields 0 0-0 0. Team – 16 9-16 46.
NORTHEASTERN (16-3, 4-0) – Tyler Smith 9 3-6 24, Bailey Stewart 6 3-3 16, Robert Smith 6 4-10 16, Nate Reynolds 3 2-2 10, DaShawn Hampton 0 0-0 0, Kaleb Mikesell 1 0-0 2, Harrison Rice 0 0-0 0, Austin Clay 1 0-0 3, Jalen Hillard 0 1-2 1, Gabe Beatty 0 0-0 0. Team – 26 13-23 72.
Union County 11 31 35 46
Northeastern 25 41 60 72
3-pointers – Union County 5 (D. Miller 2, Donovan 1, M. Miller 1, Sanford 1), Northeastern 7 (T. Smith 3, Reynolds 2, Stewart 1, Clay 1). Rebounds – Union County 26 (Wicker 7), Northeastern 34 (R. Smith 13). Turnovers – Union County 24, Northeastern 14. Fouls – Union County 17, Northeastern 16.